ALOHA! The Poly FAQ: Fall 2010 Edition

[Aristocath]

Just trying to bump my ? so it doesn't get buried

I really can't remember how long the torch lighting ceremony lasts but if I had an ADR for WCC for 6:40 I probably would leave the Poly between 6 and 6:10.

 

[mark290]

We are very excited for our stay at the Poly next week. I believe there are tennis courts at the GF. If so, do you know if a Poly guest can use the courts ? Thanks

 

[SeaSpray]

Glad to hear there seems to be plenty of Poly merchandise, I plan on getting plenty of it, note pads and to go coffee mug at the top of the list and have you seen the prints other DIsers have talked about the ones with Mickey and Minnie at the beach, wondering how much those are?

They sell it framed and unframed. I bought the unframed one because I want it to match my other Disney resort prints. It cost $17.00. I think the framed version was around $40.00.

I thought there was coconut drink on the sand next to Mickey with the Polynesian logo on it, but last night I looked at it again and saw that it's a sand bucket with the logo on it.

Hello Poly experts- I am so excited- our annual fall (Sept) Disney trip (myself, Husband, almost 4 yo daughter and MIL) has been upgraded to a POLY trip! We LOVE all things WDW EXCEPT the terrible coffee. I understand that the Kona coffee is great and I am quite happy to hear about that! Last year we brewed our own in the room (at CSR) to avoid the Disney brew. My question: is there a coffee shop or stand or QS area where we can get a cup of the good stuff? Or is it only served in the sit down restaurant at the resort (Kona). We already have our ADRs set, and those do not include daily breakfast at Kona, but our plans DO include a daily cup of coffee
Any coffee words of wisdom from you POLY experts? Thanks!

Yes there is Kona Isle Coffee Bar that has Kona Coffee and pastires in the morning and the afternoon turns into a sushi bar! We will be at the Poly in Sept as well!

I know that the Kona Cafe sells a Kona blend coffee by the cup, but only sells the 100% Kona coffee by the pot; does the Coffee Bar really sell the 100% by the cup? I never knew that!! If so, next time, I'll be buying a few cups of it from the Coffee Bar, in addition to what we have at breakfast!

 

[outahere]

I really can't remember how long the torch lighting ceremony lasts but if I had an ADR for WCC for 6:40 I probably would leave the Poly between 6 and 6:10.

If you are planning on taking the boat to MK then the boat from there to WL, I would suggest keeping an eye out for how many boats they are running. When we were there this past April, there was only one boat doing the MK>GF>Poly>MK route, and only one boat going from MK to WL. Unfortunately we didn't think to check before we started waiting for the boat at the Poly and it took us almost an hour to get to WL via boat. On the way back, we took the boat from WL to MK and then the monorail back to the Poly.

 

[Missoutandabout]

First it was "How's Tokelau?", then it was "Coffee to-go cups?" now I've got a new set of questions!

• Unless I'm mistaken, there are daybeds (those little sofa looking things) in all the rooms?
  
• Has anyone ever requested bedrails for use with the daybeds?

I was contemplating leaving our kiddo's little travel air mattress at home and let her take the daybed if they can put a bedrail up on it.

Thanks muchly for any info. This thread will keep me going on a Poly-high until September.

 

[bluejasmine]

You know..Now that you say that.. Allears says Kona Blend.. Tikiman just says Kona Coffee but refers to Allears menu.. Tikiman says you can buy Kona Coffee beans from the Kona Island Coffee Bar..

Great..Wonder which one is it? LOL

 

[bluejasmine]

By the way I wanted to ask my disney expert pals.. I posted it on another thread but..

What is the quickest way to get from AKL to WL? W/O taking a cab, Im hearing thats around $25!! Is the quickest way to go from AKL to AK and then take a bus to WL or take a bus from AKL to MK and boat to WL?

Sometimes I wish they would run some resort to resort buses..

 

[barbeml]

You know..Now that you say that.. Allears says Kona Blend.. Tikiman just says Kona Coffee but refers to Allears menu.. Tikiman says you can buy Kona Coffee beans from the Kona Island Coffee Bar..

Great..Wonder which one is it? LOL

In our experience it has always been Kona blend only by the cup at the Coffee Bar (as it was last December) but things change at WDW all the time. We buy bags of beans every trip (they have 100% Kona and blend beans for sale, they will leave whole or grind for you).

 

[logpey]

For a date night you can't go wrong with the California Grill. It's where we do our anniversary dinners and we absolutely love it.

Thank you!

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

Woot. We did decide to get a rental car so maybe a quick stop before our arrival may be in order.

As for your kitty and doing it while the kids are away, might I suggest you have them say goodbye *just in case* he passes while they are gone. This way they can have some closure for the inevitable and wont be upset about the fact they didn't say goodbye, even though they will still be sad, at least its *something*.
My mom got rid of one of my favorite cats as a kid while I was away at my aunts and it's been well over 30 years and I am STILL resentful. Maybe it's me holding one heck of a grudge but if I knew I would have at least been able to part ways vs being frustrated all these years over it.
My BFF also had a similar experience with her elderly dog recently and put him down while the kids were in school. They fibbed to the kids about coming home and finding her and then bringing to the vet to try to help when in fact it was the opposite (planned to be put to sleep). Her kids are the type that ask 100's of questions so what she thought would be easiest has turned into one big lie that they keep adding onto trying to have answers that make sense to the kids. Not to mention playing cover up with the rest of the family that knows the truth of the matter.
Good luck with however you decide. It's not easy being a parent and having to deal with loss of your furry ones for you or the kids!

I was with my dad when we put our kitty to 'sleep' when I was a little girl. I wanted to go and see that my pet was truly at rest and to be with her in her final moments. Everyone knows their kid best, so do what you will, I just wanted to share my perspective from my own real life experience... I was about 9....

Thanks for all the thoughts on the cat! I've told the kids that he will be 'passing' soon so they are saying their goodbyes. I agree that I will tell them that he has to be put down too and not lie about it. My father was in a coma when I was 8 to when I was 13 then died and I was pretty mad when I didn't get to say my goodbyes so I will not lie or anything to the kids. I'd rather them learn this life lesson with a cat.

Hi guys, I just noticed you started a new thread and can't believe you reached the max on the old one already! Thought I'd pop on and say Aloha to everyone...I've been MIA as I'm always on all the AKL threads...we're doing AKL CL next year and I avoid this thread as much as possible as I don't want to change my mind and switch to the Poly again! I'm really excited about trying a new resort, but then I look at the pictures here and see my old friends and I get that Tuvalu longing again, and well, y'all know the rest! Once a Poly addict, always a Poly addict! We will still be making ressies at 'Ohana and Kona, and watching the EWP/fireworks a few times from the beach, but I will longingly look up at Tuvalu and wish I was watching everything from up there! I hope you are all well and enjoying this amazing summer weather!

Nice to see you lilliesmum!!!! Have fun at AKL. I absolutely love that resort. But I know what you mean, no matter where I stay, I'm always a Poly addict!!

Gratuitous post. Wanted to celebrate my 1000th post in my favorite thread!

Congrats!!!

Any advice?

We are thinkin of requesting the Tokelau longhouse.

We are a family of 4. (WIth a 6 and 2 year old). Would this be a good place to request? We are going to request a bottom floor that way they can play right outside the door.

Or any other BETTER Suggestions?

Well, that is MY favorite request - patio room in Tokelau! I like the location of the longhouse, the garden view rooms are all nice (no parking lot view), the 'tad' bit bigger rooms, and I love the patio to have more room to play and talk.

First it was "How's Tokelau?", then it was "Coffee to-go cups?" now I've got a new set of questions!

• Unless I'm mistaken, there are daybeds (those little sofa looking things) in all the rooms?
  
• Has anyone ever requested bedrails for use with the daybeds?

I was contemplating leaving our kiddo's little travel air mattress at home and let her take the daybed if they can put a bedrail up on it.

Thanks muchly for any info. This thread will keep me going on a Poly-high until September.

There are daybeds and my kids LOVE it! In fact, we have to set a schedule of who gets to use it when (they switch each night) so there is no fighting. I'm not sure about bedrails though - maybe another person knows if they have those? I never used bedrails because the beds aren't that far off the ground. At the Poly, my kids have never fallen out of the beds though.

 

[guitarob]

By the way I wanted to ask my disney expert pals.. I posted it on another thread but..

What is the quickest way to get from AKL to WL? W/O taking a cab, Im hearing thats around $25!! Is the quickest way to go from AKL to AK and then take a bus to WL or take a bus from AKL to MK and boat to WL?

Sometimes I wish they would run some resort to resort buses..

I don't know if this is the "quickest" but it's probably how I'd do it:

Take the MK bus from AKL and the boat from MK to WL. I think the boat is a much nicer ride

 

[jenjen212]

We will be arriving home at the Poly in 4 more days!!!!!

I just read that they can deliver a microwave to your room upon request?

Is this true? and do they charge extra for it/night, like the way that they used to do for the friges? what would that be if they do?

thanks!!!!

 

[jetskigrl]

Gratuitous post. Wanted to celebrate my 1000th post in my favorite thread!

Congratulations on hitting 1000!!!

 

[mdrob214]

Mdrob
Loving all the pics! As much as you loved the Tikis did you bring one home? I went to Hawaii in 2006 and brought one home, he is in my DS room now..DO you have any pics of the inside of the Hawaii building?

Thanks! I took a ton, but I actually didn't take many from around the building itself. The ones on the first posts of this thread are very accurate, though.

By the way I wanted to ask my disney expert pals.. I posted it on another thread but..

What is the quickest way to get from AKL to WL? W/O taking a cab, Im hearing thats around $25!! Is the quickest way to go from AKL to AK and then take a bus to WL or take a bus from AKL to MK and boat to WL?

Sometimes I wish they would run some resort to resort buses..

The boat from MK-->WL is not very quick. If you want relaxing, and the weather is good, it's a great option. But it also is the most likely ride you'd have to wait on(could wait 20-30 min+). Fastest way would probably be AKL->AK (5 min ride, and buses come often) and then AK->WL (20 min ride + time waiting for bus).

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

We will be arriving home at the Poly in 4 more days!!!!!

I just read that they can deliver a microwave to your room upon request?

Is this true? and do they charge extra for it/night, like the way that they used to do for the friges? what would that be if they do?

thanks!!!!

Yes that's true, however the resorts also have a very low number of them to give out for those who request one and there is a chance they might be gone by the time you check-in. So worst case scenario you can always use the microwave at Captain Cooks.

 

[maiapapaya]

I really can't remember how long the torch lighting ceremony lasts but if I had an ADR for WCC for 6:40 I probably would leave the Poly between 6 and 6:10.

The torch lighting is very short - five minutes, ten minutes tops if I remember correctly.

 

[IslandAdventure4]

Havent been on to in a while (too busy) Signed on this morning and saw the Fall 2010 Edition and was so excited. Thanks for updating. We are staying at the POLY in October, our Familys first time, and I havent been since I was a little boy. So excited.....

 

[Capt. Barbosa]

Found his old brochure from my trip to WDW during the 20th Anniversary.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

Found his old brochure from my trip to WDW during the 20th Anniversary.

ROOMS FROM $180??????? Sign me up

 

[jreeves628]

I just booked my Poly vacation and I had a question about transportation. I know there are several options (monorial, boat, etc.) and was wondering if you can tell me the best way to get to the following places. I requested Tokelau, if it makes a difference.

1. Magic Kingdom
2. Epcot
3. AK
4. DHS
5. DTD
6. HDDR

Also, I read you can walk to the TTC. What exactly is that? Is this not the entrance to Magic Kingdom?

Sorry, If these are dumb questions, but I would really appreciate a step-by-step to the fastest ways to get around since I will be travelling with twin 2 year old boys.